Constructions of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction

Packed with the most recent and relevant articles in the field, CONSTRUCTIONS OF DEVIANCE: SOCIAL POWER, CONTEXT, AND INTERACTION, Sixth Edition, shows you how to apply the concepts and theories of deviance to the world around you. The text's current, comprehensive coverage includes both theoretical analyses and ethnographic illustrations of how deviance is socially constructed, organized, and managed. Seasoned authors and award-winning professors, Patricia Adler and Peter Adler cover a wide variety of deviant acts--challenging you to see the diversity and pervasiveness of deviance in society. The text presents deviance as a component of society and examines the construction of deviance in terms of differential social power. Its unique "interactionist" or "constructionist" perspective on deviance explores the processes in society that create deviance. Ethnographic in character, the authors' intriguing selected studies focus on the experiences of deviants, the deviant-making process, and the ways in which people labeled as deviant in society react to that label. The balanced selection of readings is timely and engaging, while in-depth introduction, explanation of theory, and discussion questions after each reading guide you through the fascinating material.

Patricia A. Adler (Ph.D., University of California, San Diego) is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Colorado. She has written and taught in the area of deviance, qualitative methods, and the sociology of children. A second edition of her book, WHEELING AND DEALING (Columbia University Press), a study of upper-level drug traffickers, was published in 1993. She has received many honors, including the Outstanding Teacher in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the Outstanding Researcher Award from the University of Colorado. In addition, she was awarded the Mentor Excellence Award in 2004 from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI).

Peter Adler (Ph.D., University of California, San Diego) is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Denver. His research interests include social psychology, drugs and society, and sociology of work, sport, and leisure. His first book, MOMENTUM, was published in 1981 by Sage. Peter has been honored with the University Lecturer Award and as the Outstanding Scholar/Teacher at the University of Denver, as well as being named by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI) as Mentor of the Year in 2005.